In 2004 the Brain Research Institute initiated the Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in Neuroscience Lecture. This annual lecture honors one postdoctoral fellow for outstanding research in neuroscience, and includes presentation of a lecture in the Joint Seminars in Neuroscience series, and a cash prize to attend a scientific meeting during the year.

This year, the Eighth Annual Distinguished Postdoctoral Lecturer was Eiji Shigetomi, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow working in the laboratory of Dr. Baljit Khakh. His lecture, “Astrocyte Calcium Dynamics Revealed by a Refined Genetically Encoded Calcium Indicator,” was presented to the neuroscience community on November 23, 2010.

Bingbing Song, M.D., Ph.D., presented the First Annual Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Lecture, “Release of Endogenous Opioids in the Spinal Cord Measured Through Mu-opioid Receptor Internalization,” on March 9, 2004. The Second Annual Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Lecturer was Sheila Fleming, who presented “Behavioral Phenotyping of Genetic Mouse Models of Parkinson’s Disease,” on February 22, 2005. Catalina Abad, Ph.D., presented the Third Annual Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Lecture, “VIP and PACAP: Two Neuropeptides with Therapeutic Prospects,” on June 6, 2006. The Fourth Annual Distinguished Postdoctoral Lecture was presented by Bruno Blanchi, Ph.D., “Deciphering Neurological Disorder Mechanisms Using Genetically Modified Human Neurons Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells,” on June 5, 2007. The Fifth Annual Distinguished Postdoctoral Lecturer was Grégoire Courtine, Ph.D., who presented, “Regaining Stepping Capacities Following a Severe Spinal Cord Injury,” to the neuroscience community on June 3, 2008. The Sixth Annual Distinguished Lecturer was Arne Ekstrom, Ph.D., who presented, “Correlation Between Navigational Performance and Place Cell Recruitment in the Human Hippocampal Area” to the neuroscience community on November 25, 2008. The Seventh Annual Distinguished Postdoctoral Lecturer was Dan Ohtan Wang, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow working in the laboratory of Dr. Kelsey Martin. Her lecture, “Visualizing New Protein Synthesis at Synapses During Neuronal Plasticity,” was presented to the neuroscience community on November 24, 2009.